Trading CO2 Emissions

The EMU has created a market for trading CO2 emissions, now start-ups are seeking to create for-profit companies around it:

"Now that Europe has opened a market based on carbon dioxide emissions, it could work, he insists.

George and his Foster City startup, Planktos, plan to create huge algae blooms at sea that will suck some of the greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere, then sell credits to European companies unable to meet their emissions targets.

Those companies would, in essence, pay Planktos to take out of the air carbon dioxide they are putting in. Should California, New York or other American states adopt similar cap-and-trade systems, Planktos would sell here, too.

George belongs to a small but growing group of entrepreneurs trying to turn carbon dioxide limits into business plans. Spurred by the Kyoto Protocol that mandated greenhouse gas reductions in Europe and Japan, they are dreaming up products and services they can sell to companies that take advantage of cap-and-trade systems.

"That's what we're seeing right now -- this whole industry is really ramping up," George said. "